Editing Contempt of Congress (section)

== Procedures ==
Following the refusal of a witness to produce documents or to testify, the committee is entitled to report a resolution of contempt to its parent chamber. A committee may also cite a person for contempt but not immediately report the resolution to [[Floor (legislative)|the floor]]. In the case of subcommittees, they report the resolution of contempt to the full committee, which then has the option of rejecting it, accepting it but not reporting it to the floor, or accepting it and reporting it to the floor of the chamber for action. On the floor of the House or the Senate, the reported resolution is considered privileged and, if the resolution of contempt is passed, the chamber has several options to enforce its mandate.

=== Inherent contempt ===
Under this process, the procedure for holding a person in contempt involves only the chamber concerned. Following a contempt citation, the person cited is arrested by the [[Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives|Sergeant-at-Arms of the House]] or [[Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate|Senate]], brought to the floor of the chamber, held to answer charges by the presiding officer, and then subjected to punishment as the chamber may dictate (usually imprisonment for punishment, imprisonment for coercion, or release from the contempt citation).<ref>{{cite web |last=Garvey |first=Todd |title=Congress's Contempt Power and the Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure |publisher=Congressional Research Service |pages=10|date=12 May 2017 |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34097.pdf |access-date=30 April 2019 }}</ref>

Concerned with the time-consuming nature of a contempt proceeding and the inability to extend punishment further than the session of the Congress concerned (under Supreme Court rulings), Congress created a statutory process in 1857. While Congress retains its "inherent contempt" authority and may exercise it at any time, this inherent contempt process was last used by the Senate in 1934, in a Senate investigation of airlines and the [[United States Postmaster General|U.S. Postmaster]].  After a one-week trial on the Senate floor (presided over by [[Vice-President of the United States|Vice President]] [[John Nance Garner]], in his capacity as [[President of the Senate#United States|President of the Senate]]), [[William P. MacCracken Jr.]], a lawyer and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics who was charged with allowing clients to remove or rip up subpoenaed documents, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 days imprisonment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ecommcode2.com/hoover/research/historicalmaterials/other/maccrack.htm|title=William P. Mac Cracken Jr. Papers<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=ecommcode2.com|access-date=May 18, 2017|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421135250/http://www.ecommcode2.com/hoover/research/historicalmaterials/other/maccrack.htm|archive-date=April 21, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

MacCracken filed a petition of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' in federal courts to overturn his arrest, but after litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress had acted constitutionally, and denied the petition in the case ''[[Jurney v. MacCracken]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://supreme.justia.com/us/294/125/case.html|title=Jurney v. MacCracken 294 U.S. 125 (1935)|website=justia.com|access-date=May 18, 2017|archive-date=August 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811095052/http://supreme.justia.com/us/294/125/case.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/5182000_pjl8.htm|title=This is the Statement of SEN. Patrick J. Leahy, Ranking Minority Member, before the Senate Judiciary Committee<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=senate.gov|access-date=May 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318043216/https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/5182000_pjl8.htm|archive-date=March 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The last attempt by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] to use this inherent contempt process was on July 11, 2024, when they voted on a resolution that could have held [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Merrick Garland]] in inherent contempt of Congress. The resolution would have imposed a fine of $10,000 per day on Garland for defying a congressional subpoena until he handed over audio of former special counsel [[Robert Hur|Robert Hur’s]] interview with President Joe Biden.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carney |first1=Jordain |title=House GOP fails to pass effort to fine Garland $10,000 per day |url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/07/11/congress/house-gop-flops-on-inherent-contempt-00167562 |publisher=Politico |access-date=23 September 2024 |date=11 July 2024}}</ref> This attempt fell short in a 204 to 210 vote by the House of Representatives and Garland was not found in inherent contempt, with four Republicans voting with all Democrats to oppose the measure.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hubbard |first1=Kaia |title=Republican effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress falls short |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/merrick-garland-inherent-contempt-of-congress/ |publisher=CBS News |access-date=23 September 2024 |date=11 July 2024}}</ref>

=== Statutory proceedings ===

Following a contempt citation, the presiding officer of the chamber is instructed to refer the matter to the [[United States Attorney|U.S. Attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|District of Columbia]];<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041000839.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Dan | last=Eggen | title=House Panel Issues First Subpoena Over Firings | date=April 11, 2007}}</ref> according to the law it is the duty of the U.S. Attorney to refer the matter to a [[grand jury]] for action.

The criminal offense of contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months.<ref name="fas.org"/>

=== Civil procedures ===
Senate Rules authorize the Senate to direct the Senate Legal Counsel to file a civil action against any private individual found in contempt.  Upon motion by the Senate, the [[United States district court|federal district court]] issues another order for a person to comply with Senate process. If the subject then refuses to comply with the Court's order, the person may be cited for [[contempt of court]] and may incur sanctions imposed by the Court. The process has been used at least six times.